WINNING STREAK OVER AS FLEURY DOUSES FLAMES
Golden Knights avenge loss to Calgary earlier in the week behind hot goaltender
Earlier this week, the Calgary Flames scored five times in backto-back first periods.
On Monday, it was in a 7-2 win over the visiting Vegas Golden Knights.
On Wednesday, it was in a 5-3 win over the visiting Winnipeg Jets.
Their early puck luck had to run out at some point, so it was fitting that it happened Friday in Las Vegas at the always-raucous T-Mobile Arena, otherwise known as The House that James Neal Helped Build.
A 2-0 loss in the rematch against the Golden Knights also snapped a three-game winning streak for the Flames which had kicked off with last Saturday ’s 4-2 victory over the Edmonton Oilers.
“Most games are 2-1, 3-2 in this league,” said Flames captain Mark Giordano. “(Friday) was a battle out there. They were doing a good job of staying above us and not giving us much in the neutral zone. We’re going to see that a lot, I think, with our team and our depth and our speed. Teams are going to want to shut down the neutral zone on us.”
“WE CAN LEARN FROM THAT.”
The Golden Knights hit the scoresheet with 3:51 remaining in the second period, a goal that resulted after a long shift by the Flames top line and second defensive pairing of Travis Hamonic and Noah Hanifin.
It was a heckuva shot by Cody Eakin and an even better tip from Alex Tuch, a shot that Flames’ goalie David Rittich couldn’t have possibly stopped. Vegas struck again thanks to Colin Miller’s point shot just 2:34 into the third period on their first power play of the night with Johnny Gaudreau off for cross-checking.
Rittich was excellent, turning aside 26 of 28 shots despite dropping his record to 8-2-0 while the Flames, who were leading the Pacific Division heading into U.S. Thanksgiving, are 13-9-1.
“He made some huge saves,” Giordano said. “He really has in every game he’s been in, to be honest. I really felt that both goalies were really good. I thought (Fleury) made some really good saves on the other side. too.”
Monday ’s game was understandably different, given that the Golden Knights were playing backup Malcolm Subban and it was the second half of a back-to-back.
On Friday, though, Marc-Andre Fleury was perfect on 29 shots and was sharp at the game’s end when the Flames were pressing.
“There wasn’t a lot of room either way,” said Flames head coach Bill Peters. “Especially through the neutral zone. I thought both teams tightened up and there wasn’t a lot of free ice. I thought we could have been a little more direct with our attack to the net.”
The Flames kicked things off with the first scoring chance, a three-way passing play between Gaudreau, Monahan and Lindholm in Fleury’s kitchen just two minutes in. After the puck hit Lindholm’s skates, however, Gaudreau tried to salvage it but had no luck.
On the next shift, Fleury made a right pad save on Backlund. On the shift following that, Dillon Dube sent a wrist shot towards the Vegas netminder.
Rittich, on the other end, made two quick saves — the first one on Jonathan Marchessault and the second on William Karlsson. Shortly after, the 26-year-old Czech goalie denied Max Pacioretty with Eakin ready to clean up.
TJ Brodie, playing one of his finer games as a Flame, had a nice offensive rush in the first period and tried to tee up Neal for a shot on net which went wide. (Brodie also broke up a two-on-one early in the second period with a perfectly timed poke check on the cross-ice pass).
At the end of the first, the Flames got lucky when Reilly Smith’s shot went off Rittich’s right post and ricocheted off his blocker and out. Vegas picked up steam and carried it into the second and third periods.
NEAL RETURNS HOME
It was a nice touch for the Flames to start Neal on Friday against his old pals, much like they did on Monday at the Saddledome.
Not only was the 31-year-old former Golden Knight given the ‘Welcome Home’ treatment pregame interview, he was recognized midway through the first period and properly recognized on the in-house video screen.
After playing only three shifts in the third period Wednesday against the Jets, he was on the ice in the final minutes of Friday’s game, logged 15:56 in ice time and had three shots on net along with four hits.
“We knew what to expect (Friday),” Neal said. “I know we beat them pretty good in our own building. Coming back here, we knew they were going to be ready to go. It’s a tough building to play in. I got a first-hand taste of it (Friday).
“They were faster, they beat us to pucks and Flower was great all night. Tough.”
COMING IN HOT
Oliver Kylington and Ryan Lomberg were midway through Thursday ’s Thanksgiving lunch with the Stockton Heat when they found out their services were required with the Calgary Flames.
Meaning that they had to head back to the San Diego International Airport on Friday morning, 24 hours after arriving from Tucson, Ariz., where the Heat were squaring off with Arizona’s American Hockey League club and fly back to the desert.
They missed the Flames’ pregame meetings at the team hotel in Vegas but were able to make it for warm-ups at T-Mobile Arena.
The duo was recalled after Thursday ’s news broke of defenceman Michael Stone’s blood clot and right winger Michael Frolik’s lower body injury — all of which was happening during turkey time.
Hey, no one said the life of a professional hockey player was boring.
“We had just started eating and (Heat head coach) Cail (MacLean) took us to the side and told us the news,” Kylington said. “I saw on Twitter that Stoney and Fro were injured but I didn’t think … a quick turnaround. Happens fast, sometimes.”
Lomberg, 23, has two goals and four assists and 12 penalty minutes in 18 games for the Heat this season while Kylington, 21, has seven goals and seven assists.
“I didn’t even know anyone was hurt or what was going on,” said Lomberg, who played seven games last season for the Flames during a stretch in late January to mid-February. “They told me when they called me. It’s a day-to-day business … but this is why we play, to get called up and to be here. It’s really all we can do in the minors is prepare ourselves as best as possible and always try to be ready. You never know what’s going to happen.”
Both Lomberg and Kylington packed light which might not hold up if their call-up lasts into next week as the Flames return home.
“All I have is my suit, a couple of golf shirts and dress shirts, running shoes, jeans, and some shorts,” Lomberg said with a chuckle. “That’s about it. Obviously not prepared for winter … but hopefully I’ll have an opportunity to get to Calgary.”
AROUND THE BOARDS
The Flames, without a morning skate Friday and Sunday at Arizona, made the most of their morning meeting at Las Vegas and were scheduled to hit the ice Saturday at Glendale’s Gila River Arena. “Afternoon games, they’re always a little different,” Peters said. “Depending on how you’ve been in, I think once you’ve played in lots of afternoon games, you get better at it. The routine is a little bit different. But I know our guys like the afternoon games … it’s good for us as coaches because we’ve had two days to practice (Thursday and Saturday).”